Coming off a 40-32 win over the New Orlean Saints last Sunday, Robert Griffin, III is still flying high.
The rookie earned this week's Pepsi Max NFL Rookie of the Week and FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week his first week as an NFL professional.
The rookie earned this week's Pepsi Max NFL Rookie of the Week and FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week his first week as an NFL professional.
Griffin III, 22, was a nominee for both awards following his Week 1 performance against the New Orleans Saints, in which he led his team to a 40-32 road victory at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in his first career start. Griffin III — the first quarterback born in the 1990s to lead his team to a win — completed 19-of-26 passes for 320 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. In the process, he became the first player in NFL history to compile 300-plus passing yards, two or more passing touchdowns and no interceptions in an NFL debut.
His 320 passing yards were the second most by a rookie quarterback in Week 1 in NFL history, trailing only Carolina’s Cam Newton’s 422-yard performance last season and trumping 300-yard efforts by Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck (309 in 2012) and Peyton Manning (302 in 1998).
Griffin's accolades at Baylor solidified the young player as a force to be reckoned with. The 6-3, 233 lb player played three seasons at Baylor, where he appeared in 41 games with 40 starts, capturing the 2011 Heisman Trophy last season as a junior. In his career, Griffin III amassed 12,644 all-purpose yards, including 10,366 passing yards, 2,254 rushing yards and 24 receiving yards. He completed 800-of-1,192 pass attempts (67.1 completion percentage), with 78 passing touchdowns and a 143.3 pass efficiency rating.
As a junior in 2011, Griffin III became the first Heisman Trophy winner in Baylor history in addition to being named a consensus All-American, unanimous All-Big 12 Conference first-team selection and earning national Player of the Year honors from Sporting News, Yahoo! Sports and Fox Sports.
After the regular season, five players will be nominated for Pepsi MAX NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Fans can vote for the winner on NFL.com/rookies throughout the month of January. The Pepsi MAX NFL Rookie of the Year will be announced at the second annual “NFL Honors” awards show in New Orleans on Saturday, February 2, the night before Super Bowl XLVII.
The weekly FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week Awards are also a win for local communities. Along with the player award, FedEx is making a $2,000 donation in Griffin’s name to the local area offices of Junior Achievement in Washington D.C.
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